SugarFlakes, a Sugar Rush fanfiction
by Moon Scorpion
Summary: After a new Christmas update to Sugar Rush,four new racers are added. All are instant successes,but one,Plummery Puddingslice.Furious and upset she sets off a frostingly cold winter,putting the game out of order.A group of brave racers mustventure into the blizzard to find her and save their game .Xmas d SwizzlexOC and OCxOC 1st Fanfic! Plz read/comment.
1. Chapter 1: An Early Christmas Present

**Umm, Hey Fanfictioners! New author on the starboard bow! My first fanfiction, or OUR first fanfiction, as this is a joint thing with my sister...**

**Anyhoo, likes and comments are welcome, six chapters are currently in existence and I'm expecting twentyish of them. So read on, enjoy, it's K+ but I'm not sure because... Oops I was going to do a spoiler! **

**Just please read it! Bye! (•,•)/**

Chapter 1: An early Christmas present.

"Ok kids, finish your games, it's closing time!" called Mr Litwak, owner and manager of the arcade that went by his name.

Groans and complaints came from all around the room, and the kids stopped their games and trooped out of the arcade, pulling on coats, gloves and scarves. There were ten days till Christmas, and it was freezing cold outside.

As soon as the last gamer had left, Litwak went around between the games, sweeping up any discarded candy wrappers and picking up dropped quarters. As he approached Sugar Rush, he remembered the package the postman had delivered that morning. The new Sugar Rush Christmas update plug. Litwak hurried to his office, took the package and went back to the game room. He took the update plug from its box, and plugged it into the game cabinet. As the update loaded,

he read the information on the back of the box.

"Includes...hmm... Minor track decorations... Peppermint gumballs, cool,...umm...Oh look! Four new Christmas-themed racers!" He exclaimed. "The kids are gonna love this!" He said to himself.

A little ding! From the game cabinet surprised him, and he saw the update was ready. He activated it, and then, glancing at his watch, said

"Is that the time? I gotta go!"

He locked up, dressed as if for a polar expedition, and drove away.

Somewhere else, four people awoke in a candy cane forest...


	2. Chapter 2: Candlehead Makes Some Friends

**So? What do you think? Chapter posting will be irregular, I'll just post as many chapters as possible when there's internet. So. Cliffhanger ending on the last chapter! Not really. Read and etc!**

**May the Moon shine on you!**

Chapter 2: Candlehead makes some new friends.

Mr Litwak had barely locked the arcade door that it came back to life.

"All clear!" Shouted a blonde girl from the Dance Machine game near the door. Soon, electric blue currents were leaving the game cabinets, shooting through the cables and converging towards a flat white rectangular object on the floor behind the games, studded everywhere with plugs. This was known throughout the arcade as Game Central Station. The game screens displayed characters visiting other games.

If a late-night passerby had looked through the window, he would have seen Felix and Calhoun sitting together in Fix-It Felix Jr, Zombie and the Cyborg playing cards behind Clyde's back during a Bad-Anon meeting, and a large crowd of assorted characters sitting in Tapper's, drinking a mug of the house root beer.

Over in Sugar Rush, the Random Roster Race has begun.

Vanellope von Schweetz, President of Sugar Rush, was in the lead.

Hot on her gummy-worm tires were Taffyta, Rancis, and Minty.

The other racers weren't far behind. Their sugary fans are all cheering wildly by the start/finish line, watching them on the Jumbotron.

At the tail end of the race, Gloyd Orangeboar, having just been bypassed by Jubileena, Torvald, Adorabeezle and Sticky, vented his fury by aiming a cherry bomb at Candlehead, driving in front of him.

As the sweet explosive fruit hit her, Candlehead's kart went into a mad skid, and swerved off the track into the candycane forest, snapping of striped branches as she went.

The cart skidded on for a few meters, and then shuddered to a halt.

"Owie my heeeaaaaad..." moaned Candlehead. "Gloyd, I HATE YOU!"

Then she stopped. She turned around. No one. Then she saw a waving branch of sugar. She spotted four figures behind a big candy tree.

"Hey, where the Stripe are we?" asked a voice. "No clue" answered another. "Pretty sweet place, huh?" said a third. "Yeah, really funny, Swirly." said the first voice.

"Erm, hello? Who's there?" asked Candlehead.

Silence. "Anyone there?" She asked again.

Suddenly, a girl with red and salmon-streaked buns, striped legwarmers, a green sleeveless jacket and leggings, and a red skirt. She had deep pinkish-red eyes and a mischievous face.

With her came a boy and two more girls.

One girl had mint-green hair scraped into a large ponytail, glittering green eyes, a dark green jacket over a striped top, a short white skirt fringed with red and thigh-high white boots. The boy had a gingerbread theme. He had a coffee-colored jumpsuit decorated with 3 gumdrops, over which he had a dark brown jacket edged with white icing. The same gumdrops adorned his cap, in the same boots were decorated like his spiky golden-brown hair stuck output from the brim of his hat, and his golden eyes looked shy and friendly. Candlehead thought he looked adorable. The other girl was rather uninteresting, her plum-pudding theme all in purple, from her boots to her plum-colored cap, adorned with a sprig of holly. She had long violet hair and bright purple eyes.

Staring at them all, Candlehead said "Hello! I'm Candlehead. Who are you? Wait, maybe I should take you to President Vanellope. Are you coming?"

She skipped off, not waiting for a reply.

The four racers glanced at each other.

"Do you think she's safe" asked the Gingerbread boy worriedly.

"Safe? Yeah, sure." answered the Mint-haired girl.

"But sane? No idea. Come on!"

**Candlehead is hopeless... And she gets worse!**


	3. Chapter 3: Vanellope's Welcome

**Yes, I do know that it's only been 3 hours since chapter 2... But it's so much fun seeing our story, with its summary and it's chapters and it's 35 views, and it's one like and one follow! Thank you whoever did that, I don't care if I'm getting hopelessly carried away for 1 like...**

**Keep reading, and May the Moon Shine on you!**

Chapter 3: Vanellope's Welcome.

The Random Roster Race ended with Rancis winning, and Vanellope, Nougetsia, Minty, Taffyta, Swizzle, Torvald, Snowanna and Jubileena ending up on the Roster. Vanellope returned to the palace. There she found Candlehead, with four people, who seemed to be racers and were looking a little lost.

As soon as Candlehead spotted Vanellope, she started waving her arms in the air, calling "Hey, hey!" and running towards her kart. When she arrived, dragging the four others with her, she said "Look what I found! Some racers! Three girls and a boy and the boy is soooo cute (here, the boy blushed violently) and can we please keep them please please please pretty please with cherries on top?!"

"Hey, easy, Candlehead. And don't talk about our guests like they're stray dogs dragged in from the park (excuse my unflattering metaphor)." said Vanellope, turning to the new racers as they walked into the castle. "Ok, so, hello, welcome to Sugar Rush, I'm president Vanellope Von Schweetz. Who are you and where the Programmer are you guys from?"

The redhead with the striped legwarmers stepped forwards.

"I'm Swirly Stripestick, and my friends are Swirle Mintstripe (pointing to the green-haired girl), Crumbs Sweetspice (gesturing towards the Gingerbread boy) and Plummery Puddingslice (indicating the purple racer)."

Vanellope nodded. Swirle Mintsripe continued, brushing her turquoise hair out of her face.

"As to where we're from, well, we were hoping you could tell us that because... well... we have NO idea."

Just then, Adorabeezle rushed in from outside.

"Your Presidency! We've noticed some strange stuff on the tracks! An Assorted Fan was rolling a gumball off the track when it suddenly became all stripy! And Taffyta saw some giant candycane arches over the Ice Cream Mountain track. What's going on?"

"Hmm" said Vanellope. "Candycane decoration, new racers... People," she declared to the assembled racers in the room "It seems we have been granted a Christmas update! Beezle, tell the other racers to assemble at my box at the starting line in five minutes. Candlehead, go with her."

The two racers left the room.

"Hokey dokey! I'll present you guys at the Royal Box, and then someone will show you to your houses." said Vanellope. "I expect your code already provides you with all the game info, right?" They nodded. "Alrighty!

Let's get to the Royal Box!"

The racers were already grouped at the foot of the Royal Box when they arrived. Vanellope leapt into the seat at the top. The new racers followed.

"Sweetizens of Sugar Rush!" she announced into the microphone a floating mini-marshmallow had passed her.

"You may or may not have noticed the changes made to some parts of the game. The reason is this:" she paused for effect.

"We have had a Christmas update!"

The racers chattered excitedly.

"Ok ok ok. So. We have some Christmas-themed decorations, I have heard of candycane arches, peppermint-patterned gumballs, and a Christmas-Cracker powerup. Also, I have the pleasure of prreeeesenting to you four new racers! Please welcome Swirle Mintstripe, Crumbs Sweetspice, Swirly Stripestick and Plummery Puddingslice! Big round of applause, please!"

The racers began cheering and clapping. Swirle and Plummery waved,

Swirly gave a film-star wave and a bow, and Crumbs blushed hard andwiggled his hand a bit. "I would like someone to take them to their houses, please!" said Vanellope. Swizzle and Gloyd volunteered.

"Ok, you may go back to your previous buisnesses, unless it involves pick pocketing a gummy bear or vandalizing a sugar cube." said Vanellope. Everyone laughed.

"Oh and before I forget, a grand welcome ball shall be held in one weeks time at the palace. You are all invited, unless..."

She paused, and several racers paled.

"Unless... Your name begins with a number or a letter unknown to the rest of the world! Just kidding, you're all invited, duh! See ya!"

The racers laughed, some nervously. Not everyone was used to Vanellope's joking reign, so different to the seemingly jovial but truly hard-hearted King Candy.

Swizzle and Gloyd walked with the new racers towards a cluster of about twenty small houses on a low hill. Each racer had a house decorated to match it's theme, and a communal garage stood in the center of the ring of houses. Four houses had appeared in the circle; one was a gingerbread cabin with a raisin path and icing decorations, two had shiny white walls with barber-pole-like decorations and stripes everywhere it was possible, and one was a plain purple house with sugarplum decorations and icing-sugar-covered holly bushes.

"They're beautiful!" cried Swirle.

"So are you." said Swizzle. "Wanna hang out?"

"Ummm... Yes?" answered Swirle uncertainly, blushing a little.

"Hey guys! Wakey wakey honey cakey! We have to help you guys get settled in, so move your molasses and get your sweet feet over here!"

called Gloyd, from where he was in front of the door of one of the peppermint houses. They went in.

"The houses appear to match the personality and theme of the racer who will occupy it," explained Swizzle "so you'll know it's yours as soon as you step inside."

The inside of the house was tastefully decorated in white, red and mint green, a large bed with a spiral pattern in turquoise in one corner, and a minute Christmas tree in a teal pot stood near the entrance. A few shelves, a low table with a bowl of candied fruits and peppermints and a red and green sofa under which was a thick mint green rug.

Swirle gasped "It's mine! I love it!" Gloyd laughed.

"Didn't Swizzle tell you?!"

"Yep, definitely hers." said Plummery. "Right. I'm tired, I'll go over to my house."

"You sure you'll find it?" asked Swizzle.

Plummery stared at him.

"Well um, as my theme is plum pudding, and I only noticed one house like that, oh I wonder why, I thought that there was a tiny chance it might be mine, y'know, just a thought I had! I'm not stupid!"

She marched out of Swirles house.

They watched her retreating figure.

"Sheesh, temper girl!" said Gloyd to no one in particular.

"Come on, I'll take you to your houses, you two!" said Swizzle to Swirly and Crumbs. To Swirle he said "So... I'll be seeng you around?"

"Sure..." She hesitated.

"I'll drop by later." he promised. "See you!".

"Bye... Swizz..." She called as he was leaving.

**Swizzle and Swirle... Swirle is my sister's OC, so don't hate her. Aren't they cute? I'm going to copy SwizzleMalarkeyFan and call them Mint Swizz.**

**Keep the faves coming please!**


	4. Chapter 4: Revving Up

**Hey! First, thank you SwizzleMalarkeyFan, for Faving and Following! Everyone, take example on theSwizz! Next, just for the record I hate Snowanna, so unflattering things about her MAY appear. Or not. Keep reading and May the Moon Shine on you!**

Chapter 4: Revving up.

In the morning, they awoke just as the first gamers were arriving. As they were new, the last four racers on the roster kindly gave up their spot for that day, in order to let the gamers have the full new update. Swirle noticed that one of those racers was Swizzle, and she smiled shyly and waved at him as she was led to the 'Chews your Racer screen room. Crumbs passed a group of giggling racers, among which were Taffyta and Snowanna.

"Hey Cookie!" called Taffyta. "Good luck for the race!"

"Yeah Sugar Puff!" added Snowanna, patting her psychedelic colourful Afro.

Crumbs turned redder than Jubileena when sunburn, mumbled something, and hurried off into the room. He hated attention. To calm himself, he thought of the wonderful thing he had found in his house last night after Swizzle and Gloyd had left. In a slim black case under his bed, he had discovered a violin. He had never seen one, much less played one, but he could feel it in his brand-new code, he knew that he could play. Trembling, he lifted the instrument with its bow out of its case. It was a beautiful thing; finest carved semitranslucent caramel, thin, fine, liquorice strings, and the case had a velvety spun-cotton candy lining, dyed a rich red. He stroked it, lifted the violin and bow, and began to play. The notes shimmered in the air, perfect. He played faster, a laughing singing melody made for dancing. Then a slow tune, sad and beautiful. He played for what felt like hours. At last, as if emerging from a trance,he had regretfully put down the instrument, lovingly stored it in its case, and fallen asleep. Now, he was going to race.

Swirly absolutely loved all the bustle around her. The noises, the sweet smells of racetrack cocoa powder dust, the expectant cheers of the fans being shepherded towards the track. Already a box of peppermints and candy canes, and another of gingerbread minimen, had been put up. She opened the door she was shown to, and stepped into her 'Chews your Racer' box.

She couldn't wait to start racing!

Only one thought was in Plummery's mind as she stepped into her box.

Pick. Me. Pick. Me. Pick. Me. Pickmepickmepickme!

She was born to race. Made to race. Ready to race.

As soon as she had stepped out of Swirles house last night, she had regretted her outburst. Sarcasm and snappishness was in her code. Her designer must have eaten too much at a Christmas party, gotten drunk, felt cranky the next day and had taken it out on her. Some Christmas present, she thought.

No, don't think that. Think about being picked to race. Pick me!

She took her place in the box.

At last, the words 'QUARTER ALERT! QUARTER ALERT!'flashed onto the Jumbotron, before being replaced with the Sugar Rush logo.

"All right! LETS RACE!" cried Vanellope in the central box.


	5. Chapter 5: Ready to Race

**Thanks to Edlover23 for the Favouriting! Reviews and so on welcome! Thanks for all the reads! I have a reader in Finland, wow! May the Moon Shine on You! **

Chp 5: Ready to Race.

In the Chews your Racer room, the racers saw the gamers face appear on a screen above them. Two girls were playing.

"Cool, new racers!" said one. "I bags the cutie with the brown cap!"

Damn it, thought Crumbs. Then as the girl selected him, a strange feeling came over him. An urge. He let it wash over him, and suddenly found himself leaping in the air, shouting "Ginger, Spice and all that's Nice!" He didn't understand why he had done it, but it seemed so natural that he decided to go with the flow.

Onscreen, the other girl looked upset. "Awwww, I wanted him!" she pouted, but cheered up upon seeing Swirly. "I'll have her, then! Her hair is awesome!" As she was chosen, Swirly threw a peppermint that had appeared in her hand and yelled "Stripe!" as a noise of falling bowling pins came from the speakers. The two girls settled into the racing seats, and began to play.

Swirly watched with excitement as the starting lights blazed red, then orange then -BEEEEP! Green! She felt her foot floor the accelerator as the orders from the game cabinet's steering wheel and pedals reached her code, making her kart, a miraculous candycane and peppermint bit of joy on wheels she had discovered in the garage that morning, speed forwards in a cloud of cocoa powder. She cried out from happiness; THIS WAS AMAZING! The girl driving her was a very good driver, as they approached the Gumball Gulf she began a series of impressive swerves to avoid them. Looking in her wing mirror, she spotted Taffyta Muttonfudge speeding behind her,when she was suddenly hit by a Sweet Seeker powerup from Rancis who had come up behind.

The girl seemed to have spotted this, as she drove into the path of a gumball, and then avoided it. As she had planned, it collided straight on with Rancis's kart, which promptly crashed backwards into Minty. Wow, thought Swirly, this is so...violent! Like, zoom crash vrroooar kaboom screeeeek pow! I love it I love it I love it!

Now she was on the Ice Cream Mountain, under the new candycane arches, speeding up the whipped-cream slope and then into the tunnel that lead to the jump. A camera-bearing mini-marshmallow zoomed in on her face, and she stuck her tongue out at it cheekily, just to annoy everyone watching the Jumbotron. Then- "STRIPEABUNGAAAAAA!" She yelled as she reached the jump, flew through the air and landed hard on the Rainbow Sour Strip. Ahead she could see Vanellope and Swirle, neck and neck, and way in front -Crumbs.

She hadn't known he was such a good racer. Well, actually it was probably just the girl driving. Swirlys 'pilot' gave an extra burst of speed, trying to catch up.

Further behind, having successfully sped past Nougetsia, Plummery was tailing Swirly, Vanellope and Swirle. She was boiling with rage at not being chosen. Ooh, it was so unfair! But she consoled herself with the thought that many more gamers, many more days and months of racing awaited her...

Someday,they would HAVE to choose her. They WOULD.

She floored her pedal and sped towards the group who was fast approaching the finish line.

Swirle glanced over at Vanellope, who was a little in front of her. The President racer was zigzagging in front of her, to stop her from overtaking. She was some racer. Suddenly Vanellope was distracted by a wave of cheering from the stands. Crumbs had just crossed the finish line, and as a large trophy floated into his hands, the girl who had chosen him punched her fist in the air and cheered. Swirle took the opportunity to nip past Vanellope, sped up and crossed the finish line just seconds before the President used her ever-famous teleport glitching powers. Vanellope vanished and appeared right before the finish line in a cloud of blue binary, securing third place for herself.

Then Swirly roared past the finish line in fourth place. The girl driving looked disappointed.

"I suck at this game!" She exclaimed. "You wanna go over to the Dance Machine?" "Yeah, ok" answered her friend, watching Crumbs clutching the cup excitedly.

The two girls left, and just then, Plummery crossed the finish line.

No one noticed.

"Phew, cool race!" said Vanellope. "You really got me there Swirle! Now, back to your places guys, I see more people coming!"

**Everyone who loves Crumbs, I shall hopefully be posting hand drawn pictures of my OC's! **


	6. Chapter 6: A week in the Life

**Hello people! Thank you for the 130 views! Still no reviews but I'm not complaining. Thanks also for all the foreign views, all those guys in Vietnam, Finland, China, the Phillipines, Mexico, you're all awesome, and so are all the US views and so on. Thanks also to TURBOTASTIC for the follow. **

**Chapter 7 is nearly finished, and Chapter 8 should be written pretty quick. F&F, R&R!**

**May the moon Shine on You! **

Chp 6: A week in the life.

Many more gamers arrived. That day, Swirle was chosen 5 times, Swirly 7, and Crumbs was chosen 11 times! "Popular with the laaaa-diiies!" sang Swirly infuriatingly. Crumbs turned red and mumbled something about 'not my fault if they choose me', but you could tell he was slightly pleased.

As for Plummery... She seemed to be part of the background, for all the notice the gamers took of her. The next day, it was the same. And the next.

Once, oh, only ONCE, a little girl had played, looked at the racers, and said "Pretty purply girly!", and had chosen her. But she had been such a bad driver, too young to play, really, and more interested in the sweet scenery than the actual race, that Plummery had arrived second to last. Besides, the girl had not been quite tall enough to reach the pedals, and it was so frustrating to have her foot on the accelerator and have her code prevent her from slamming it to the floor.

Days passed. Gamers came and went. Plummery was not chosen.

She began to hate the racers, all of them, and their smug faces and silly chatter. "I might as well have been a glitch' she thought "it wouldn't have made a crumb of difference,"

But there was not just racing going on. Plans for a great ball were going ball was in two days, and the ballroom of the palace was festooned with sour laces and sour strips, the marble-like hard candy tiles had been polished, white chocolate statues stood in alcoves along the walls, and hundreds of sugar flowers were draped and arranged everywhere. Swirle, who had heard Crumbs playing one night, had with great patience persuaded him to play on the night. He had accepted, if rather regretfully, to play a few tunes.

Crumbs's success with female racers had not faded, if anything, a third of Sugar Rush's players chose him. Swizzle once asked him "Man, how do you do it? Give me some pointers at least or something!" Crumbs shrugged and blushed. "Uuh, I must be programmed like this, with natural charm." He gave a weak smile and hurried off. Swizzle stared after him.

"Wow, is that the first joke I've heard this guy make or what? He should hang out more. With me." Then he strolled over to Swirles house and asked her if she'd like to go for a walk through the candycane forest. Their relationship was going well.

On the evening before the ball, Plummery was lying on her bed, feeling terrible. If she had been human, what she was feeling would have been close to a fever, only ten times worse. "If this keeps on' she thought, 'I won't be able to go to the ball. Actually that might not be so bad,' she reflected 'Because then I wouldn't have to listen to their silly victorious racer twaddle."

Suddenly she sat up.

"No' she said aloud ' I will go. They'll remember this ball for a long time!"

Already her headache was disappearing fast.

She hadn't noticed, but her eyes had briefly flashed red.

On the morning of the ball, all the sugar rush racers opened their cupboards to find a special evening set of clothes, dresses and tuxedos themed to match their favourite candy. Swirly opened her wardrobe to find a beautiful dress. Normally fancy dresses were really not her thing, but this...

A tight, almost black green corset, laced up with a red ribbon, from which flowed a red skirt streaked with white swirls. Two candycane striped ribbons could be tied, in place of the usual peppermints that held up her hair.

White gloves, fingerless but somehow elegant, and ruby slippers that would've made Dorothy jealous, completed the outfit.

"It's... gorgeous..." She breathed once she had tried it on in front of the mirror.

She was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Pulling it open, she saw it was Gloyd, holding a sugar flower. Surprised, she asked " What do you want?" Gloyd stuttered "Uuuuuh, hi Swirly, umm, I was just, wondering if you... well, um..." Swirly scowled " Just spit it out, will you!". Gloyd looked pained.

"Doyouwannagotothewelcomeballwithme ?" He rushed. Swirly stared. "Whadawhadawhat?"

"Um, I,just,wanted, to know, if you'd like to go to the welcome ball with me...?" Swirly looked at him as one might look at an ugly midget trying to climb a high wall. Something to be pitied, laughed at, nothing more.

"Look, you're a nice guy, but...NO." And Swirly slammed the door.

And Gloyd was left on the doorstep, holding a sugar flower that had bent from the force of the slam.

Other ball pairings were going much better. Swirle was going with Swizzle, Rancis had invited Vanellope, and Crumbs, having been pestered relentlessly by nearly every female inhabitant of Sugar Rush, had decided to go with the only person who hadn't asked, which happened to be Crumbelina, who had just been about to ask him anyway, in private. The much-envied Italian racer was admired by all as being the date of "that cutie little cookie crumb" as Snowanna put it.

Patience was running out as 6:00 pm, the time of the opening, came near.

The racers crowded around the palace gates, and suddenly, they were flung open. Sour Bill stood in the courtyard.

"It is six o'clock in the evening' he droned 'The palace gates are open, welcome to the Welcome Ball, please come in, all hail our rightful ruler, President Vanellope Von Schweetz" as the young President appeared in a pixellized puff of azure zeroes, dressed in her princess attire.

Sour Bill sighed deeply, pulled a melancholy face and said in a montonous voice without the slightest exclamation mark

"Let's party."

**"Thank you for that THTIRRING welcome, THour Bill!" King Candy. (^,^)**


	7. Chapter 7: Deck the Hall, Wreck the Ball

Oh** my land! (Felix LOL) Thank you Unicorn! My first review! Let's all go over to Tappers to celebrate! Umm, ahem, sorry *looks embarrassed*. Thank you thank you! Thank you also iamgoku for the double fave/follow. And hellos to the 12 Australian readers! I shall soon be cut off from internet, so I am hoping to devote my time to writing the chapters. Also, pictures of my 4 OC's are on my profile, so feel free to take a look! 190 views, yay! May the Moon shine on You!**

Chp 7: Deck the hall and Wreck the Ball.

A flow of overexcited racers, dressed in sweet finery, poured into the ballroom, chattering, laughing and commenting the stunning decoration. All day long, truckloads of icing sugar had been arriving at the palace, and now, all the racers could see that it was being sprinkled down from the ceiling like confetti or fake snow. Giant spun-sugar snowflakes hung from the ceiling, reflecting the lights like fragile disco balls, and large candy Christmas trees, bedecked with tiny gumballs and white and red dolly necklaces, stood in the corners of the room. Stars of solid sherbert powder twinkled on the top branches.

Vanellope, in her princess attire, was standing on one of the snack-laden tables, tapping her scepter against a large ice cream bowl to bring the attention towards herself. "Ahem!" She pretended to clear her throat. "Before we start dancing, eating, making out under the mistletoe I placed on purpose and generally having fun, I would like to officially welcome our four new racers, Swirly, Plummery, Swirle and Crumbs!" A loud cheer went round the ballroom.

"I would also' continued Vanellope, 'like to draw attention to the fact that in five days Mr Litwak will be leaving the Arcade for a Christmas week off. We all deserve a good break, so I royally order you all to have as much fun as you can during the Christmas Break!"

More cheering and clapping, and as the lights dimmed and the music started up, Vanellope glitched out of her royal robes and revealed a tight-fitting sleeveless dark purple dress, spangled with mint-green sprinkles and with a design like melting chocolate along the skirt top.

She and Rancis led the way onto the dance floor, followed by Swizzle with Swirle, Gloyd with Candlehead, just to spite Swirly (who couldn't care less) and Crumbs with a delighted Crumbelina, dressed in a latte-colored gown, swirled with caramel and a layered skirt.

Those without dates danced alone or in groups, or lingered near the buffet, chatting. Crumbs played his violin solo, and as the last beautiful note died away, the roof nearly caved in with the girls hysteric cheering.

The evening went on. Swirle and Swizzle vanished behind a Christmas tree, and re-emerged half an hour later blushing and smiling like the cat that not only got the cream, but also the strawberries and most of the chocolate sauce too. In a corner, Snowwana was trying to pretend she hadn't dragged Crumbs under the mistletoe on purpose, amid a group of girls laughing hysterically.

Skulking under a nearby Christmas tree,was Plummery, watching Crumbs blush and hold up his hands to protect himself from Snowanna, observing Gloyd step on Candlehead's feet because he was busy staring at Swirly turning her back on him and laughing with Minty, spying on Jubileena as she tried to take her fifth cream puff without anyone noticing, and staying out of the rosy spotlights on the dance floor. A part of her longed to join everyone, but another screamed "No! They're just selfish, show-offish racing brats who think they're so much better than everyone because THEY'RE always being played with." That part of her had been taking over all week, growing stronger every time another racer was chosen, and now it was just raging with the unfairness of it all. Plummery frowned, looking at the group of Crumbs's tormentors. Crumbs had obligingly kissed Snowanna, naively thinking they would then leave him alone, but then Taffyta had wanted a go, and Nougetsia, and it was all turning into an unofficial kissing booth. Crumbs was sweet, thought Plummery, a good friend, but much too nice, and no moral strength.

She wandered over to the edge of the dance floor, watching Rancis dance with Vanellope to some slow music. Swizzle and Swirle were revolving in a tight embrace close by, dancing too. Crumbs had escaped the clutches of the girls, and was being taught how to dance a slow correctly by Swirly 'just in case', she said.

Suddenly, someone tapped Plummery on the back. It was Citrusella

"Hey, um, Plummery, right? Look, we were wondering, " she gestured to a group of recolours nearby ' if you wanted to come to the racetracks with us sometime during Christmas Break? Because you don't get raced with...much" she added bluntly. Plummery stared at her, speechless with fury. It was too much.

"I' she said, in a voice of suppressed rage, 'WILL be raced with."

Citrusella looked at her in shock. Plummery's eyes were bright red, and swirls of ice-blue binary were glitching all over her arms, mixed with crimson. A crackling noise surrounded her. The music had stopped and no one was dancing. All eyes were on Plummery. She gave a brief laugh, laced with insanity and hate.

"And if I can't race,' she continued, her voice rising 'NO ONE CAN!"

As she shrieked her last words, the icy pixels that had been swarming around her exploded, filling the air, speeding through the ballroom and shattering the windows as they rocketed out of the palace. A cold wind blew in through the broken panes, swirling in a flurry of snow. Real snow. Soon, everyone could see that it was becoming a blizzard.

As the binary dust settled, everyone could see that Plummery had vanished. All that was left was a trace of snow.

In Sugar Rush's code room, several large and lethal-looking icicles had formed on the major gameplay code boxes. A red, glitching haze had enveloped Plummery's box.

**Muahahahahaha... **


	8. Chapter 8: Ice Age

**Hello! Excuse me all you amazing readers, I had writers block, laziness block and limited internet. Whip me chain me to the wall and throw Cherry Bombs at me, but forgive me for not posting.**

**I have no excuses. **

**On a bright side, this chapter is quite long (compared to others in this story), so have fun reading and reviewing and so on, and May the Moon shine on You! (•,•)/**

Chp 8: Ice Age

The first kids came in through the doors of Litwak's arcade, rushing to their favourite games or wandering around to find a good game to play. A boy rushed to one of the racing seats in Sugar Rush. He fed in some quarters, and waited for the corny J-Pop jingle to die down and the Chews your Racer screens to appear. Instead, a load of white fuzzy specks filled the screen, like the sort of snow that appears on tv screens when the aerial is broken. "Darn it, stupid thing!" Muttered the boy. He gave it a small kick, hoping it would work like a stuck snack machine, one kick and it would work, but the screens stayed obstinately snowy. "Hey, Mr. Litwak?" called the boy, waving his hand.

The arcade owner walked over. "What's the problem?" He asked. Then he caught sight of the fuzzy, unresponsive screens. Oh boy, he thought, one year after that Fix-it Felix fiasco, another game was bugging. And with Mike, the guy who did the repairs on the games, out of town till the day before Christmas, and would only be back in 3 days, he was going to have to wait a bit for Sugar Rush to be up and running again. He turned to the boy.

"Sorry buddy, I'll get someone to look at it, but he'll only be able to come and check it in three days. Here's your money back." He handed the boy some change from his beltbag, and regretfully taped two Out Of Order signs to the game cabinet's screens.

Inside Sugar Rush, the storm was so bad that you could hardly see. White pixels swirled through the freezing air, and the sky had turned a dull reddish black from the Out of Order signs. A large, frozen snowdrift had accumulated in front of the entrance to Game Central Station.

Rooms for the candy NPC's in the palace were set up, heated so they wouldn't freeze. Two rooms rather like dormitories were prepared for the racers, who were stuck in the palace. The racers were shell-shocked, especially the new ones, who had known Plummery best. Citrusella, who had first felt unjustly guilty, was being comforted by Torvald.

"I wish I knew why she got so mad!' cried the blueberry-themed racer.'Somehow, I feel like it's my fault, but it isn't, is it?" Torvald frowned. "Don't be stupid, Citri, of course is isn't! She was just..." she broke off, not knowing what to say.

The truth was, no one knew why Plummery had run off. No one had really known the solitary purple racer well enough, no one had really noticed how she was never chosen to race, she had been unnoticed, invisible.

All the racers, and Vanellope, had gathered in a room to discuss the matter with each other. Swirle spoke up. "She was upset that she never got chosen to race, and no one really talked to her, so she must have gotten angry and..."

"But that was overreacting!' cut in Adorabeezle 'the recolours don't get chosen very often, and they don't blizzarify the game! No one can help it if some racers are more popular than others!". Citrusella spoke up.

"When we were talking,' she said hesitatingly, 'just before she went...well, all crazy mad and stuff, she started glitching, like Vanellope, only red, and there was icy blue mixed in it. And her eyes went all red and glowing..." She trailed off, shivering from the memory.

"What are you getting at?" asked Gloyd. Citrusella looked up.

"I think that Plummery might have a virus." she announced"

Everyone gasped, remembering Turbo and his game dominating plans.

Vanellope looked worried. "The red glitching Citrusella described sounds a lot like a virus' she said 'but not as strong as King Turbug. The bits of blue are a sign that the virus has not taken over her completely. I think a general reset should do the trick, it should clear the snow and weaken Plummery, so she will be easier to find. I'll go down to the code room and see if I can straighten this mess out. Stay here." She walked out of the room.

Vanellope shivered as she walked towards the code room's secret entrance behind the throne room curtains. She had tried to seem cheerful for her racer friends, but really, she was very worried. She hoped that a game reset would at least get rid of the snowdrift in front of the GCS exit, so that she could go talk to Surge about a way to get rid of the virus. If anyone could help with Plummery's problem, it was Surge. Vanellope arrived in the throne room and ducked under the large raspberry-silk curtains behind the throne

It was even colder in the corridor to the code room door, and the blue wires that lined the wall seemed to pulse slower.

As the code room door became visible, Vanellope stopped, shocked. Her mind went as numb as what she saw in front of her. Oh no, she thought, this is bad bad BAD.

She dashed out from under the curtains and hurried to the room where the racers were. She shoved on the door and it crashed open. The racers turned towards the noise and immediately saw their President's white face and panicked eyes.

"What's wrong, Vanellope?" asked Swizzle. Vanellope stood on a chair.

"I have some very bad news" she announced to the assembled racers. The racers looked worried. More trouble?

"The door to the Code Room' she said, in a trembling voice 'has frozen over. There is nothing to do."

**Dun dun dun duuuuuuun! Suspense! Admit you're all sitting on the edge of your seat!**

**Or not. Ignore my ramblings and await chapter 9 (which i haven't even started writing)!**

(-,•)


	9. Chapter 9: The storm rages on

**Please don't kill me!** **I have no excuses for not publishing, except for my phenomenal laziness and bad case of writers block (I'm sure you all understand, so please point those dangerous weapons away from me). **

**I am opening a contest: draw the scene when Plummery starts glitching at ****_the_**** ball. Upload it to your profile with Image Manager. PM me so I know to check it on your Profile. Entries close on 30/10/14. May the moon shine on you!**

Chp 9: The storm rages on...

Outside the palace, the snow battered on the walls and towers. **Hailstones** like **luimps** of frozen rock candy pelted every bit of the white castle. The wind moaned,as if agreeing with Vanellope's dreadful news.

The racers gasped. Jubileena began to cry quietly. Taffyta fainted.

Nougetsia slapped her and she woke up.

"The sheet of ice is really thick, it looks impossible to break.'continued Vanellope in a deadpan voice. "The only thing we can do is to search for Plummery, and try to make her stop this blizzard. I would like all those who want to go on a mission to find her to move to the left of the room. About six people should do it." Everyone stared.

"I'm not going out there to freeze my eyes out for a girl who never even bothered to talk to us!" exclaimed Snowanna. Taffyta and a few other racers nodded in agreement "How can you say that, Snow?" demanded Sticky. "Sure, she stayed alone and didn't try to socialise or get known to us, but she's a racer just like us, and. I wouldn't abandon a fellow racer, whatever she's done. I will go and find her, even if nobody else does." She walked to the left of the room. Snowanna looked at the floor, ashamed.

Vanellope nodded. "I agree with Sticky. We can't abandon Plummery. Who else will go?"

Swirle went left too. "I will. Sticky is right, Plummery is my friend and I won't let her down. If she has a virus, then I will help her get rid of it." She stood next to Sticky. The two racers smiled at each other.

Swizzle went over to stand by the girls. "Sticky, your speech was really good. It made me think that we have to stick together. I'll come and help find Plummery." As he stood near the teal recolour, he whispered "I also came so I could protect my best friend." Sticky smiled at him.

She knew that she and Swizzle were the best of friends, and she was happy to have him on the trip. She also knew he was (although he'd never admit it) coming to be with his new girlfriend.

In the end, three more racers volunteered to go on the rescue mission.

Along with Sticky, Swirle and Swizzle would be , Gloyd and Crumbelina. Vanellope then lead them to a library containing a large map of Sugar Rush. "You'll start off soon, we can't waste time. We're already out of order, and a Candy Character heard Litwak say someone will come to check us in 3 days. That gives us time to find Plummery and get her to fix the game. If we don't, we'll definitely be unplugged." The other racers around her looked grim. "We'll find her, be sure of that." said Crumbelina determinedly. Everyone else nodded. Vanellope stood up. "Come on,' she said,' you have to get dressed properly for the cold." They trooped into a dressing room, with an enormous closet with a set of buttons on the door. "Get in, one of you,' explained Vanellope. 'I'll program you some warm winter gear. It should work, it's a very minor code box, but I still hope it hasn't been damaged." Swizzle stepped hesitatingly into the closet. The door shut behind him, and Vanellope began typing quickly on a keyboard that had slid out of it. "Name... gender... clothing type... color choices... and Go!" she said, pressing the largest button on the door. A light shone from under the closet Swizzle stepped out, kitted out in a tight blue skisuit and green-striped scarf, snow hood and thick gloves. Warm moon boots came up to his knees. Ski goggles were buckled in place over his eyes, but he pushed them up onto his forehead to see better. He struck a supermodel pose, arms outstretched. "Ta-daaa!"

"Ok Swizzle, that's you done.' said Vanellope, examining her handiwork. 'The skisuit will inflate and become warm to insulate you from the cold, and the goggles are against the cold wind. Who's next?" Swirle went next. She stepped out a moment later dressed in red and teal stripes with white details and furry blue-green gloves, scarf and hat. Soon, everyone except Vanellope was dressed in the special costumes in their favourite color schemes. Then the President took them down to the kitchens to supply them with provisions. Gloyd and Torvald volunteered to carry the large packs of water bottles, soft pretzel bags, high-energy candy bars, candied dried fruit and LifeSavers. In another bag that Crumbelina had decided to carry were six tightly rolled mini-sleeping bags, stuffed with insulating cotton candy. They were very light, and furled into small pouches to be easy to carry. Then they walked to the entrance of the palace. The storm was still as strong. A wall had caved in next to the ballroom, and small heaps of snow were piled up in the corners and under the shattered windows. A team of marshmallow cameramen were patching up the wall, and others were trying fruitlessly to brush the snow out, even when more of it was blowing in through cracks and holes in the repairs. Vanellope shivered, and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "Are you all r-ready?" She asked, teeth chattering. They all nodded. "Then safe search, and be careful!" The racers said their goodbyes. "Will you all be alright?" asked Crumbelina, hoisting her pack onto her shoulders. "We'll be f-fine,' stuttered Vanellope. 'Go! Talk to P-plummery, get her to stop this! Head towards Ice Cream Mountain, the storm seems to be even w-worse there! Good luck!"

The President waved to them, and hurried inside. The racers turned towards the Ice Cream track. The storm did seem to be worse there, and the snow seemed to be glitching. They all shivered. As if on cue, their clothing puffed up with a noise like popcorn, and they all felt warm. The goggles helped against the freezing gusts of icy wind.

The racers all looked at the glitching storm on Ice Cream Mountain.

"Well,' said Gloyd, 'I got a feeling we're going to have one freeze of a time. Let's go."


End file.
